None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
Middle ear infections are a big problem for children in WA, however the waiting time to access PCH specialists to manage these is over 2 years. The Ear Portal study aims to use telehealth technology to improve access to specialist ear health services at PCH for children in the Perth metropolitan region. We believe that the Ear Portal service will reduce waiting times to less than 4 weeks.
Interventions
Eligible participants will be identified by ENT staff from the outpatient waitlist and triage of referrals. Children will be recruited in cohorts from the start of the waitlist (Cohort 1), the middle of the waitlist (Cohort 2) and the end of the waitlist (Cohort 3).
Once informed consent obtained, screening ear health assessments including medical history, otoscopy, tympanometry, audiometry and otoacoustics emissions testing appropriate for the child's age will be collected by the research assi
Eligible participants will be identified by ENT staff from the outpatient waitlist and triage of referrals. Children will be recruited in cohorts from the start of the waitlist (Cohort 1), the middle of the waitlist (Cohort 2) and the end of the waitlist (Cohort 3). Once informed consent obtained, screening ear health assessments including medical history, otoscopy, tympanometry, audiometry and otoacoustics emissions testing appropriate for the child's age will be collected by the research assistant in the research clinic at PCH during a single face to face visit. If the child has otitis media requiring assessment by ENT/Audiology, a referral and the results will be transfered electronically to the PCH multidisciplinary team (MDT) consisting of an ENT doctor, audiologist, paediatrician and ENT clinical nurse specialist. If the child does not have otitis media requiring MDT assessment, they will be screenfailed from the study and appropriate further follow up arranged (e.g. discharge from care, follow up with GP etc.). The MDT will look at the results and develop an ear health care plan for the participant. The care plan may include further follow up ear health assessments (watching and waiting), prescribing antibiotics, referral for surgery etc. The ear health care plan will be sent back to the research assistant for implementation with the participant via phone as soon as possible. The participant also has the option of phone or video call directly with the MDT if they wish, according to their needs. If further consultation is required, more than one session may be arranged. The time until assessment will be calculated from initial referral until Ear Portal telehealth assessment.
Sponsors
Telethon Kids Institute
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Prevention
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
6 Months to 6 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Children will be eligible for the study to be enrolled in the appropriate cohort if they meet all of the following criteria: 1. Aged between 6 months and 6 years old. 2. Live within the greater metropolitan region of Perth (within a 60km radius) 3. Identified during triage of initial referral to PCH for hearing or ear related issue 4. Have been screened and identified as having ear disease as defined by; evidence of OM with effusion (OME) for >3 months; a history of 3 episodes of OM in the past 6 months; 4 episodes of OM in the past 12 months; or significant parental concerns regarding their child’s hearing or speech development. At least 20% of the study population must be of Aboriginal descent to ensure that there is adequate representation in the sample given the prevalence of OM in Aboriginal children. Therefore, there will be a cap of 96 non-Aboriginal children to be recruited to each cohort.. Once this cap is met, only Aboriginal children will be eligible to be recruited until the total target of 120 is reached for that cohort.
Exclusion criteria
All participants: 1. Are a CAT 1 (urgent) referral. Treatment will be sought immediately for these children. 2. The child’s legal representative (parent/guardian) is unwilling or unable to provide informed consent to participate.
Outcome results
None listed